Current Grad Students - A-F

Alphabetical:  A-F  |  G-O  |  P-Z

• Francine Abe
  e-mail: fabe@ku.edu
  Advisor: Edward Wiley
  
  
• Blythe Alexander
  e-mail: blyalex@ku.edu
  Advisor: Raymond Pierotti
  
• Michael Andersen
  Education: B.S., Cornell University, Natural Resources, 2004
  Research Interests: Speciation, diversification, phylogenetics, and biogeography of Neotropical birds. Evolution of vocalizations in birds.
  Recent publications:
  Lebbin, D. J., Hosner, P. A., Andersen, M. J., Valdez, U., and Tori, W. P. In review. First description of the nest and eggs of the White-lined Antbird (Percnostola lophotes) and breeding observations of poorly known birds inhabiting Guadua bamboo in Southeastern Peru.

  Tobias, J. A., Lebbin, D. J., Aleixo, A., Andersen, M. J., Guilherme E., Hosner, P. A., N. and Seddon. (in press). Distribution, behavior, and conservation status of the Rufous Twistwing (Cnipodectes superrufus). Wilson Journal of Ornithology.  
             
  Andersen, M. J., Lebbin, D. J., and P. H. Hosner. 2007. First photographic evidence of Veery (Catharus fuscescens) for Peru. Boletín SAO 17(1):36-38.

  Lebbin, D. J., Harvey, M. G., Lenz, T. C., Andersen, M. J., & J. M. Ellis. 2007. Mixed-species flock of fall migrant birds foraging at night by artificial light. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(3):502-506.
  Hometown: Baldwin, NY
  e-mail: mja43@ku.edu
  Advisor: Dr. Robert Moyle
  


• Cornelia Becker
  Current Research: Monarch butterfly migration
  Hometown: Mauchenheim, Germany
  E-mail: cobecker@ku.edu
  Advisor: Chip Taylor
  

• Daniel Bennett
  Education: M.A. University of Kansas, Entomology; B.S., Zoology, University of Washington
  Research Interests: Systematics and Behavior of Bees and Wasps
  Current Research : Phylogeny and Behavior of the Moustache Wasps (Crabronidae: Crabronina)
  Recent Publications: Bennet, D.J., and M.S. Engel. 2005. A primitive sapygid wasp in Burmese amber (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae). Acta zoological cracoviensia, 48B (1-2): 1-9.
  e-mail: danben@ku.edu
  Advisor:M.S. Engel
  
  
• Bastian Bentlage
  e-mail: bentlage@ku.edu
  Advisor: Paulyn Cartwright
  
  
• Brett Benz
  e-mail: bwbenz@ku.edu
  Advisor: A. Townsend Peterson
  
  
• Sarah Bodbyl-Roels
  e-mail: scheetah@ku.edu
  Advisor: John K. Kelly and Helen Alexander
  
  
• Teresa Carroll
  Education: Ph.D., Science Education, University of Kansas
  Research Interests: Stream ecology, benthic macroinvertebrates, water quality.
  Hometown: Springfield, Missouri
  e-mail: tcarroll@drury.edu
  Advisor: Orley Taylor and James Thorp
  
  
• Pingfu Chen
  Education:
  Research Interests:
  e-mail: pingfu@ku.edu
  Advisor:Edward O. Wiley III
  
  
• Jeffrey Cole
  Education: BS in Biology, UCLA
  Research Interests: Speciation, sytematics and behavior of Orthoptera
  Thesis Research: Diversity of Odonata at a site in Sonora, México
  Dissertation Research: Sexual selection and speciation in shield-backed katydids (genus Neduba, Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)
  Recent Presentations: Adventures in Neduba: Preliminary Field and Lab Work, Central States Entomology Society, 81st Annual Meeting, April 23, 2005
  Recent Publications: Prum, R.O., Cole, J.A., Torres, R.H. 2004. Blue integumentary structural colours in dragonflies (Odonata) are not produced by incoherent Tyndall scattering. Journal of Experimental Biology 207: 3999-4009. Hometown: Los Angeles, California
  e-mail: jeffcole@ku.edu
  Advisor: Jennifer Gleason and Michael D. Greenfield
  
  
• Cathy Collins
  Education: Pitzer College, B.A. Biology
  University of Arizona, M.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  Research Interests: Community Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Conservation Biology
  Dissertation Research: Influence of fungal-plant mutualisms on plant communities
  Recent Presentations: Fragmentation, succession, and the accumulation of species in space and time. Ecological Society of America, 2004.
  Recent Publications: McGill, B and Collins, C.D., 2003. A unified theory for macroecology based on spatial patterns of abundance. Evolutionary Ecology Research 5: 469-49.
  Hometown: Denver, CO
  e-mail: ccollins@ku.edu
  Advisor: Bryan Foster
  
  
• Andrea Crowther
  Education: B.Sc. (Hons I), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Brad.Dip.Env.Mgt., Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
  Research Interests: Taxonomy of Actiniaria, Invertebrate Zoology, Cnidarians, Coral reefs.
  Dissertation Research: Taxonomic revision on the Family Thalassianthidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria).
  Hometown: Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
  e-mail: andreac@ku.edu
  Advisor: Daphne G. Fautin
  
  
• Matthew Davis
  e-mail: mpdavis@ku.edu
  Advisor: Ed Wiley
  
  
• Steve Davis
  Education:  B.S., University of Maryland
  Research interests:  Morphological and molecular systematics of baridine weevils.
  Recent presentations:
  2007 International Congress of Insect Biotechnology and Industry (2007). Wing locking mechanisms in the weevil subfamily Baridinae. 
  
  83rd annual meeting of the Central States Entomological Society (2007). Weevil diversity in Miocene amber: A preliminary overview.
  Recent publications:  Davis, S. 2006. Description of a new lepidopteran structure, the abdominal tubercles. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 60 (4): 194-202.
  
  Davis, S. R. and Engel, M. S. 2006. Dryophthorine weevils in Dominican amber (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 109 (3/4): 191-198.
  
  Hometown:  Gaithersburg, MD
  E-mail:  steved@ku.edu
  Advisor:  Michael S. Engel

• Lella Desotelle
  Education: Winona State University, B.S. Environmental Science
  Research Interests: River Ecosystem Ecology
  Thesis Research: Comparing differences in riverine food webs using remote sensing and stable isotopes
  Recent Awards: National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship- Honorable Mention
  Hometown: Winona, MN
  E-mail: ldesotel@ku.edu
  Advisor: Dr. James Thorp
  
  
• Shannon DeVaney
  Education: B.S., Zoology, University of Washington
  Research Interests: : Phylogeny, evolution, and biogeography of fishes, especially meso- and bathypelagic taxa
  Dissertation Research: Molecular phylogenetics of the order Stomiiformes (dragonfishes and allies)
  Recent Awards: Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship, 2002-2006; NSF/JSPS Summer
  Recent Award: Maison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship, 2002-2006.
  Recent Presentations: 2005. Interrelationships of Stomiiformes: A molecular perspective. 7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, Taipei, Taiwan.
  Recent Publications: Williams, J., K. McNyset and S. DeVaney. In Press. A tale of 3 carps: Ecological niche modeling and staggered invasion history in Eurasian carps. Conservation Biology.
  e-mail: scd@ku.edu
  Advisors: Ed Wiley
  
  
• Jason Emry
  Education: B.S., Nebraska Wesleyan University; M.S., University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  Research Interests: Plant population biology, biological invasion, ecological scaling.
  Dissertation Research: Effect of seed density, canopy removal, and habitat type on sericea lespedeza germination and survival; Comparing the effectiveness of different management strategies on sericea lespedeza populations; Allelopathic effects of sericea lespedeza.
  Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
  e-mail: djemry@ku.edu
  Advisor: Helen Miller Alexander
  
  
• Jacob Esselstyn
  Education: B.S., Oregon State University
  Research Interests: Biogeography and systematics of Southeast Asian Mammals
  Recent Publications:
  Esselstyn, J. A., H. J. D. Garcia, M. V. Saulog, & L. R. Heaney.  In press.  A new species of Desmalopex (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Mindoro Island, Philippines, with a phylogenetic analysis of Pteropodine genera.  Journal of Mammalogy.
  

  Esselstyn, J. A.  2007.  A new species of stripe-faced fruit bat (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae: Styloctenium) from the Philippines.  Journal of Mammalogy.  88:951–958..
  
  Esselstyn, J. A.  2007.  Should universal guidelines be applied to taxonomic research? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 90:761–764.
  
  Esselstyn, J. A., A. Amar, & D. Janeke.  2006.  Impact of post-typhoon hunting on Mariana fruit bats (Pteropus mariannus).  Pacific Science. 60:531–539.
  
  Esselstyn, J. A., P. Widmann, & L. R. Heaney. 2004. The mammals of Palawan Island, Philippines. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 117:271-302.
  
  Esselstyn, J. A., G. J. Wiles, & A. Amar. 2004. Habitat use of the Pacific sheath-tailed bat (Emballonura semicaudata). Acta Chiropterologica. 6:303-308.
  e-mail: esselsty@ku.edu
  Advisors: Rafe M. Brown and Robert M. Timm
  
  

• Nat Evans
  
  Education: H.B.S. Oregon State University (2005)
  Research Interests: Phylogenetics and Biogeography of Hydrozoans
  Hometown: Albany, Oregon
  E-mail: evansnat@ku.edu
  Advisor: Paulyn Cartwright
  


• Debra Finch
  e-mail: bfinch@ku.edu
  Advisor: Helen Alexander